If there's one thing screenwriter Jeremy Adams was ready to hone in on in the new DC Animated Movie, Batman: Soul of the Dragon, it was the martial arts world that Bruce Wayne immersed himself in to become the Dark Knight. Set in the 1970s, the animated film has Batman team up with his fellow martial arts pupils to stop the murderous Kobra cult from plunging the entire world into hellish jeopardy. For Adams, the project was a dream come true and allowed him to double down on his cinematic influences while embracing the martial arts elements of the DC Universe.
In an exclusive interview with CBR, Adams talks about bringing martial arts philosophy to Soul of the Dragon, how setting the film in the '70s highlights a classic era for Batman and teases his upcoming comic book projects with DC.
The last time you and I spoke, it was about Mortal Kombat: Scorpion's Revenge, which obviously has a big martial arts influence, but now you're going full tilt with Soul of the Dragon.
Jeremy Adams: I'm trying to be that guy — I'm trying to be the martial arts guy! Send all those scripts my way, man! I could do this forever! [Laughs]
What makes the '70s the perfect time period for this film?
Adams: I think it's a cross-section when you have the kung fu craze in the '70s, which was steeped in every genre of movie, and then you also had James Bond movies — spy movies were really big — and then you had satanic cult movies. So there's like this great cross-section and they all lived in the same time in the '70s and it was a great place to put this. Not to mention, it's one of Batman's seminal ages. The Denny O'Neil stuff was a shift in the tone of Batman and really affected so many people, including [executive producer] Bruce Timm, for the way we perceive Batman and you can see it when you read those books, how it trickled down into the Frank Miller stuff and whatever, so it's definitely a great age.
Bruce and I had separately wanted to do a Batman Enter the Dragon kind of thing since he's such a great martial artist. I think the '70s for Bruce, that was his generation, that was his decade, and he loved it. So it was an easy way to separate Batman from the way we maybe think about Batman today, with tons of gadgets and modern-day whatever, and throw him back in time [where] you still have to punch and kick a way out of your problems. [Laughs]
This film is definitely a dream project, bringing in elements of Enter the Dragon and Big Trouble in Little China.
Adams: My favorite! My first credit was on Green Lantern: The Animated Series but I hadn't really worked with Bruce Timm. So when he walked into the room, it was [producer] Jim Krieg, Bruce and I, and Bruce said, "It can't just be Enter the Dragon, it also has to be Big Trouble in Little China," and I was like, "You have just said the greatest thing ever because I am obsessed with Big Trouble in Little China. I think it's the best ever, so I'm in heaven!" And so I'm glad that you saw and mentioned that.
It was definitely there, even beyond having James Hong in the film.
Adams: Oh, yeah! To a degree even where the main character is supposed to be Batman — just like in Big Trouble, it's supposed to be Jack Burton — but really, he's not as good as everybody else in that movie. [Laughs]
To that point, this is really an ensemble film. Who were you really excited to put in the spotlight in this film?
Adams: I'm always eager to put Richard Dragon in anything. I'm a huge fan of Richard Dragon and that kind of goes hand-in-hand with Bronze Tiger. And with Shiva, Gail Simone on Birds of Prey really fleshed out Shiva in a way that I was suddenly like, "I get this character! I really like this character now!" We had a huge list of characters that we went down and people were like "yes" or "no". In my world, I have a top-five DC martial artists and I got a few of them in there, which I'm excited about. [Laughs]
And the fact that Mark Dacascos got to voice Richard Dragon? Michael Jai White got to be Bronze Tiger? Kelly Hu got to be Shiva? And you've got David Giuntoli as Batman doing a great job but you've [also] got three people who can kick anybody's butt in real life voicing these characters. I'm a martial arts nerd, so getting to meet Mark Dacascos and Michael Jai White sent me over the moon, man. [Laughs]
What made you guys want to use Kobra as the antagonist?
Adams: The cool thing, is we started thinking about what the specter is for the movie; what's the cult. And when you start digging into the cults of the DC Universe, this one really stood out. It's been around; their belief system is slightly creepy and it was an easy way to hang our hat on it. You always want that kind of evil organization that has a theme. [Laughs] You need a themed criminal organization to really bring in those henchmen, but the fact that it was snakes and they believe in this thing with this great Naga, and then it was even better because we could bring in King Snake and it all fell into place. That's all DC Universe lore that all these great writers have explored in one way or another, and we just kind of got to pick what we wanted for our story.
With this being a period piece, you likely got more creative freedom depicting classic DC characters like Batman than you would in an interconnected film. What is something you're proud to leave your own personal stamp on the characters with?
Adams: I think we talked about this with Mortal Kombat, but martial arts were really formative for me, and it wasn't just about throwing a punch; it was about a philosophy. To me, the best martial arts movies — whether it's The Karate Kid or Red Belt or any of what I call pure martial arts movies — there's a philosophy behind it. For me, the [personal] stamp is it kind of made this movie that. You get a lot of O-Sensei philosophizing, but it carries through towards the end of the movie, and that to me is very important.
When it comes to martial arts, it's so much about the philosophy, it's so much about the inner character, it's so much about what it means to kind of have self-discipline and also the psychology of this guy Bruce Wayne and his quest to stamp out evil and how absolutely futile that is, and yet he still wants to stamp out evil. Obviously, I think for people that watch it, I have a sensibility for fast-paced action; lots of martial arts. Those are things where if you pulled apart my DNA, you would see it.
But with Batman, getting to do it with Bruce Timm, he knows this character inside and out and has a very particular way of viewing that character. And so coming alongside him and saying, "How can I make this the best Bruce Timm flick possible and add whatever seasoning I can as Jeremy Adams?" And just to learn too! And what could I say if Bruce Timm said "no?" We would have these long conversations and sometimes I'd win and sometimes I'd lose, but the point being, I'm very much in service to these guys. I want to help them make their movie. That's what being an animation screenwriter is. You want to tell a great story, you want to be personal and you want to be honest, but you have to hand it off to these miracle workers that have to draw all these pictures and put it together. And [director] Sam Liu and Bruce cast this with the top of the top, so being able to work with them and hopefully give them what they needed is all I could ever ask for.
Just as a quick detour, your first comic book projects are about to come out.
Adams: You don't even know, man! This is my lifeblood! I get to write a comic! I'm so excited to do Black Racer and Black Adam! On Supernatural, I was able to make this really cool female character named Mrs. Butters, and being able to put Black Racer out there and another surprise character in the Black Adam book — I'm just trying to build a roster of awesome female leads for daughters to take on once they get older. [Laughs] I cannot wait for you guys to see it. It's all coming out: Soul of the Dragon is coming out, the comics are coming out and there's going to be another great announcement. [Laughs]
[Future State] Suicide Squad is an oversized issue and I'm doing the back half of it and that's where the Black Adam [story] is. The Superman: Worlds of War, the back half of that is the Black Racer book. Fernando Pasarin is doing the pencils on Black Adam and it's blowing my mind, and Siya Odum is doing the Black Racer and she's incredible. So that's in those books, they'll be like 22-pages apiece. I'm telling you, dude, inner boy Jeremy is losing it! I've preordered a bunch with them already giving me some because I'm going to be handing those things out like they're fliers. [Laughs]
Just to take it back to Soul of the Dragon, you've established this fun, grindhouse world. Is this something you'd like to revisit and expand in the future either on film or the printed page?
Adams: Heck yes! I know what the sequel is! [Laughs] I need everybody to buy this movie and watch it so I can do a sequel! I'm ready! I'm already five movies deep! You guys have got to catch up!
Directed by Sam Liu and executive produced by Bruce Timm, Batman: Soul of the Dragon stars David Giuntoli as Bruce Wayne/Batman, Mark Dacascos as Richard Dragon, Kelly Hu as Lady Shiva, Michael Jai White as Ben Turner/Bronze Tiger, James Hong as O-Sensei and Josh Keaton as Jeffrey Burr. The film arrives Jan. 12, 2021 on digital HD and on Jan. 26 on Blu-ray and 4K UHD.